


sick days

by suchasoftersin



Category: Electronic Dance Music RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-21
Updated: 2012-11-21
Packaged: 2017-11-19 05:08:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/569456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suchasoftersin/pseuds/suchasoftersin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>two children were made for two parents.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sick days

Mehdi’s finding out quickly why two children are always split between two parents. Pedro’s been sick for the past few days, the kind of sick with a sore throat, runny nose and low grade temperature. He tried to ignore how terrible he felt and continued working, hoping it would go away, but then it got worse. He’s been in bed since he got home from work last night and Mehdi could barely wake him up to call in sick this morning (the receptionist said she wasn’t surprised; he looked a bit peaky). Mehdi kissed his warm forehead and promised him soup before he left, Pedro’s eyes slipping closed before he even pulled away. Before he left the room, he made sure to turn on the humidifier to help him breathe easier.

He starts checking the freezer, trying to find the containers of frozen homemade soup that they have saved for days like this. The front is reserved for baby food, mashed up in cubes that they just take out and put in the fridge when needed. There’s bags of vegetables, some are probably old enough to be officially thrown away but Mehdi’s been putting it off for some time. He digs around through frozen broccoli and packages of meat until he finds them near the left corner in the back. It’s the soup that Pedro had made a huge batch of - Mehdi says Pedro because he was the one actually working while Mehdi sat in the chair and watched his ass in the tight boxer-briefs - and half of it was packed away for later.

He pulls out one of the plastic containers, recognising the soup because of the noodles in it. They’re homemade noodles with fresh vegetables and broth that Pedro used minimal help making. He doesn’t have long before the babies will be awake so he sticks it in the microwave on defrost instead of letting it sit on the counter. After he presses the start button, he moves across the room to dig out a decent-sized bowl to put it in. He manages to find a blue plastic one that he figures will be a better option than glass considering Pedro’s in bed and mostly out of it. Setting it on the counter, he stands and waits for the microwave to be done. He hopes that the children don’t wake up before he can officially feed Pedro and put him back to bed; he needs the food, he’s barely been eating lately.

It takes a lot of manuevering around the kitchen but he finally manages to get the soup into a bowl and warmed up nicely. He knows that Pedro won’t want anything else because he’s too ill to even try to eat it, so he balances the bowl as he makes his way to their room. Pedro’s eyes are still closed but his breathing is uneven, probably too hot and achey to even feign sleep. The blankets are shoved around his waist, his bare chest and feet poking out and Mehdi would think it’s adorable under other circumstances. He doesn’t open his eyes but the corner of his mouth twitches as he hears Mehdi pad across the carpet towards his side of the bed.

“Baby,” Mehdi speaks softly as he sits down on the side of the bed, balancing the bowl in his hands. Pedro makes a pitiful whining noise, enough to tell him that he hears him but he really doesn’t want to move. Mehdi feels bad about getting him up when he needs rest but he knows that getting food in him will also help. He tries again, “come on, baby, please. For me?” He wins that time.

Pedro groans again but shifts under the sheet, dragging himself slowly to sit up against the headboard. His skin is clammy but sweaty, glistening under the low light of the lamp next to the bed. His eyes are drooping and they’re dark when he looks up at his husband, coughing from his dry throat. Mehdi offers him a smile and uses one hand to press against Pedro’s forehead to check his temperature. Pedro feels the extra warmth sink into his skin and he whines and squirms, trying to get away from it. Mehdi pulls away with a small apology and Pedro moves to get comfortable again.

“I’m sorry you’re sick, baby,” Mehdi apologizes again and then offers him the bowl of soup. Pedro reaches and takes it in both hands and Mehdi holds on, trying to make sure that he doesn’t drop it. Completely ignoring the spoon, he brings the bowl up to his lips and starts drinking the warm broth. He makes a little noise as he gulps it down, not stopping to breathe until he’s finished half of it in one go. Mehdi chuckles and helps tilt the bowl, amazed with how fast he’s eating compared to how relunctant he was a minute ago.

“Okay, slow down before you drown.” Pedro complies and pulls it away from his mouth, eyes flicking to his husband. He’s too weak to even smile at him even though he’s too grateful for the things Mehdi does for him.

“Love you,” his voice is raspy, still dry from being ill and the broth has only soothed it a little. Mehdi smiles and he gets that look in his eyes that means he’s happy, that his heart is sold to his husband. Perfectly on cue, a baby squeals loudly from down the hall - a sign that he’s awake and impatient to have attention. Mehdi can’t help but chuckle because fussy babies always know when to wake up in the morning. He lets go of the bowl and Pedro’s able to hold it by himself now that it’s half-empty, picking up the spoon for the first time. He presses a fluttering kiss to Pedro’s temple before he leaves to take care of their babies.

Xavier’s standing up in his crib, holding himself up on the side and bouncing on little legs. He’s watching the door intently while his brother sits up in his own crib across the room, watching Xavier with interest. When Mehdi turns the corner, Xavier starts to babble to get his attention and Sebastian leans forward. Mehdi can’t help but smile as he makes his way over to their youngest, listening to him try to talk to his papa. “Oh, you think so?” He asks the baby, making him talk louder because he’s getting attention now. “Well let’s tell your daddy all about that when he’s feeling better.”

Mehdi picks Xavier up, hands underneath the little boy’s armpits, and Xavier goes easily because he wants out of the crib. He cradles him to his side with a hand braced under the child’s butt, the other laying on his back while Xavier wraps an arm around his papa’s shoulder. Sebastian’s noticed how much attention his brother’s getting and he’s decided that he doesn’t like it. He starts to whine, a high-pitched “uh uh uh” noise that he makes when he’s impatient. Mehdi moves over to his crib now, keeping Xavier up while he reaches down to rub a hand over Sebastian’s tummy to soothe him.

“You think I would forget about my baby boy?” Sebastian doesn’t understand what he’s saying but he likes that it’s being said to him, so he gurgles up at his papa. With skill that’s taken too much practice, Mehdi bends over the crib just enough that he can scoop up Sebastian as well. The older boy goes easily and when he’s cradled into his papa’s arms, he lays his head on his shoulder with his face next to his neck. Xavier squirms a little in the grip, wanting to be out of his room because he knows he’ll see daddy soon - daddy with bright-colored clothes and big smiles. He’s barely seen daddy lately and he decides he doesn’t like that because he wants daddy right now. Mehdi takes Xavier’s impatience as a sign that he has a hungry baby so he very carefully makes his way to the kitchen to feed them.

Xavier is eyeing all around, watching the corner because he knows daddy comes that way sometimes. Sebastian is happily mashing dry cereal into his mouth from a bright purple, plastic bowl on his high chair. There’s an equally bright green bowl in front of Xavier but he’s not interested in it as much as he is curious where his daddy’s gone. Mehdi’s back and forth all over the kitchen, trying to put away all of the dishes he’d done last night before bed. He keeps stacking sippy cups onto shelves with the glasses and sorting forks and spoons into the drawer, including Sebastian’s little plastic set that he doesn’t like to use unless it’s for stabbing his fruit.

Xavier thinks he hears a noise from the hallway and he perks up, leaning forward in his highchair because it means daddy will be here soon. He waits a minute, almost completely still in concentration but daddy never appears. He looks around the room to check that he didn’t accidentally miss daddy but all he sees is papa across the room and Seb spilling Cheerios on the floor. He decides he doesn’t like this anymore because he wants daddy right now so he starts to squirm in his chair and whines when he doesn’t get anywhere. He spills the bowl in the process of flailing hands and legs, kicking at air to try and move. He gets louder until papa finally turns around to look at him, Sebastian’s own mess forgotten as he eyes his brother.

“Xavier,” papa tells him in that voice that he uses when he throws his teddy on the floor, “what’s wrong? You spilled your cereal all over the floor.” Xavier likes that he’s got attention on him so he picks up his arms to try and and get papa to get him down from the chair. Papa puts down the silver thing that he’s holding and starts walking towards him, “you’re so whiny today; you need a nap.” He side-steps all of the bits of cereal strewn out around the chairs from the combination of Xavier’s fit and Sebastian’s messy habits. Papa does as expected and picks the boy up and out of the chair easily, holding him against his hip. He turns around just in time to catch Sebastian’s little face scrunching up as he starts to cry because his brother’s getting attention over him.

“Sebastian, please,” papa begs the older boy because his hands are literally full. It only quiets him a little and even though he’s being so noisy, he’s yet to shed an actual tear. Xavier decides that his brother can have papa because he starts to squirm, wanting to be put down on the floor. Papa lets out a harsh breath from his nose before he moves enough to set Xavier safely down on the floor at his feet. Xavier seems content enough so he moves forward to pick up the second whiny baby, instantly silencing Sebastian with the attention he’s now receiving. Xavier grabs onto Mehdi’s sweatpants, hoisting himself up onto wobby legs and nearly pulling down his papa’s pants in the process.

“Xavi!” Papa scolds him but he’s too excited to be free that he ignores him in favor of taking little steps forward. When he’s sure that he won’t tumble over, he lets go of papa to get farther away from him. With a few bigger steps, he starts to run as fast as his little legs will take him across the tile floor. Papa gasps in fear that the boy is going to trip over his own feet and really hurt himself. Normally he’d run after him but he’s got Sebastian in his arms and he doesn’t think it’s a good plan because he can’t control the boy in his arms since he’s still upset. He starts to quickly follow after, as fast as he can without risking a meltdown from Sebastian when he realizes papa’s attention is on his younger brother.

Xavier is determined now that he’s got speed, the momentum keeping his balance somehow. He runs around the corner and heads straight for the room that daddy comes from, the door wide open for him. Papa’s right behind him with his brother, still whimpering from his little fit for attention. He rushes into daddy’s room, the floor feeling soft under his feet and he somehow manages to stay upright. He can’t see daddy and he almost starts to cry but then he hears a noise that makes him look up and then he can see daddy’s arm hanging over the side of their bed, all of the pretty pictures on it catching his eye. He dashes forward and he can hear papa behind him but he ignores it, reaching daddy’s arm and latching onto it with both of his chubby little hands.

“Xavier!” Papa hisses his name quietly but he tugs at daddy’s arm, bouncing up and down and he starts to whine. He puts all of his weight into it, pulling and trying to get daddy to pick him up and kiss at his cheeks like he always does. He’s really missed daddy, been waiting for the way he showers Xavier with love but always disappointed when he doesn’t appear. Papa had tried to do the same, tickling him when he got mopey as his eyes darted around for his daddy, but papa didn’t have long hair that tickled him like daddy did.

“He’s fine,” daddy says above him, his voice is all scratchy but Xavier’s just excited that he’s awake. He stands on the tips of his toes and leans against the bed, trying to see over the mattress. There’s shifting, the blankets russling, and then daddy appears over the edge to look down at him. He’s not as colorful, his hair swept back so his whole forehead is showing, and he’s only got a little smile but Xavier thinks that’s enough. Daddy moves to pick him up like he always does, leaning over the side to grab Xavier’s sides and pull him onto the mattress.

“Pedro,” papa speaks to daddy while he walks into the room with Sebastian cradled into his chest, “you’re going to get him sick.” Xavier focuses on getting comfortable, laying on top of the blankets and cuddling real close to daddy even though he feels very warm. Daddy sets a big, warm hand on his side but doesn’t pull him closer nor push him away. Papa huffs, “okay but when he gets sick, you get to take care of him.”

It turns out that Mehdi wasn’t completely off; it’s Mehdi who gets sick and Pedro gets to spend all weekend running after the kids while Mehdi sleeps. This is why two children are made for two parents, Pedro thinks as he looks around the disaster-zone that used to be their living room.


End file.
